Furlough, Day 2

Well, it looks like we’re in it for the long haul, boys and girls. That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, which reports neither the Republican’t nor the Demonrat party held any negotiations on the actual problems faced by the nation, but chose instead to trade blame and point fingers at one another.

Republicans criticized Senate Democrats as being unwilling to negotiate an end to the standoff that forced federal agencies to curtail a range of activities and begin the furlough of more than 800,000 workers.

President Barack Obama pointed the finger at House Republicans for their efforts to scale back or dismantle the 2010 health law, the [anything but] Affordable Care Act. “They’ve shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans,” Mr. Obama said from the White House Rose Garden.

To translate: Republicans were too busy surrendering, squabbling and begging the intractable Harry Reid for a bone, “Oh, please, Harry! Just talk to us, Harry!” after spending four years kicking around the very “Tea Party extremists” who handed them a massive win in the House in 2010.

Reid was busy tossing every proposal the House sent him into the trash, without so much as a glance at the actual text.

And Dear Leader was busy blaming the Republicans for being unwilling to fund a law that has already damaged the very people he pledged to care about – the middle class. I point you to my friend Danielle for some anecdotal evidence that there’s nothing “affordable” about your law.

Yesterday morning my husband calls me from work and informs me that our cost for our health care premiums skyrocketed from $550 a month for our family, to $1100 a month! We cannot afford to pay that much out of pocket! So he and our oldest will have coverage, but myself and our other 5 children do not. I do not want to hear how great Obamacare is. It is government bureaucracy at its worst, and my family and many others are now paying for it. Don’t tell me that we should be able to keep my plan. It’s obvious that we cannot! 85% of the country was doing just fine with our personal health care plans. You and the Democrats have trashed the whole system instead of trying to find a way to insure the other 15%. I don’t want any part of the Affordable Care Act. My children cannot play sports now for fear of broken bones or other injuries, and I will have to be the one to deal with their disappointment, not you!

And he has the unmitigated gall to claim it’s Republicans who want to deny affordable coverage to millions of Americans (who, by the way, couldn’t even get on the damn site to register yesterday, but that must be all BUSHTEAPARTYEXTREMISTREPUBLICANS fault too – or there’s just soooooo many Americans wanting to get on there, that the site crashed!)?

Today we learn that Reid and the shitbag patrol tossed yet another proposal in the trash without so much as a read. Because you see, ObamaCare is THE LAW (opposed by the majority of Americans, whom these assholes claim to represent), and funding it has nothing to do with the budget, so get over it, Republicans, and just give the Democrats what they want, because RACIST!

Yes, ObamaCare was passed by both houses (against the wishes of the plurality of people whom they are supposed to represent and with lots of cajoling and outright bribery), signed by the President (not because the law was good, but because he pushed for it, and Nancy Pelosi said we had to pass it to know what’s in it – kind of like the Christmas gift from hell your aunt buys you every year. You know you’re going to hate it, but you have to open it anyway and pretend to be thrilled!), and upheld by the Supreme Court (which revamped this atrocity into a “tax” – one that would punish millions of Americans, the majority of whom are now being raped with a legislative billy club, so a tiny minority could get free shit).

All this is true.

It is also true that since Congress makes the law, it can certainly pass another law to defund or delay this crap, which by the way, Dear Leader did by executive fiat already for many of his big business and union cronies anyway, and which by the way, even more Americans want gone.

In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of workers – yes, actual WORKERS, not politicians and their cronies – have been booted off the job. Bills will go unpaid. Debts will increase. Demand will fall. Local economies will be affected.

All because Washington cannot get its head out of its collective ass.

I was talking to my dad today, and I would love to see every piece of shit responsible for this mess give up its salary to a family whom it put out of work for the duration of this furlough. They’re still getting paid for not doing their jobs, and only a tiny little minority is actually doing something other than hoarding that paycheck for itself.

That evil, horrible Ted Cruz, who actually had the balls to stand up to the bullying from both sides of the political aisle, will give his salary to charity each and every day during the furlough.

A handful of others have promised to give up their pay as well.

A handful of Democrats and Republicans have stepped forward recently to say they will not accept their paychecks this week if a shutdown occurs. Alabama Republican Rep. Martha Roby has said she shouldn’t get paid if members of the military don’t get paid. “This is Congress’s problem to fix,” she said. Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI) says he’ll donate his salary to charity if Congress can’t agree on a continuing resolution. “Michigan families work hard and when they don’t go to work, they don’t get paid,” Peters said. “The same should hold for Congress.

“On Saturday, Rep. Pete Gallego (D-TX) introduced a bill to designate members of Congress as “non-essential employees,” meaning they would be stop being paid along with the other federal employees starting on Tuesday.

Looking to take the decision out of individual members’ hands, Sen. Barbara Boxer introduced legislation in January to prevent any member of the House or Senate from getting paid in the event of a government shutdown. A similar bill passed the Senate unanimously in 2011, but the House never voted on it. This year, as the likelihood of a shutdown looks more certain than ever, Boxer’s bill has one co-sponsor, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA).

“How is that Republicans who are urging a shutdown of the government are not co-sponsors of my bill?” Boxer said Friday. “They want to protect their own pay, they want to protect themselves and their families, but they don’t seem to care about the single mom who works as a custodian in one of our government buildings who is struggling to get by … These Republicans are willing to put the livelihoods of millions of American workers at risk—but not their own.”

Martha Roby’s “sacrifice” is a nice little trick. The first thing these leeches will do is pay the military, no matter how much they threaten not to. They know and understand the backlash they will face on both sides of the aisle if they fail to pay the troops who are out there getting maimed and killed! And yes, this is Congress’ problem to fix, so fix it already, assholes!

It makes my spleen hurt to agree with Boxer on anything, but fact of the matter is that the bill to prevent any member of the Senate or House from getting paid if they take a large, steamy dump on hundreds of thousands of civil servants and their families, is a good one. But my support is mitigated by her claim that Republicans are the ones urging the shutdown of the government!

Republicans aren’t the ones tossing every proposal in the trash.

They aren’t the ones unwilling to even discuss the ObamaCare issue.

They aren’t the ones telling millions of Americans to “get over it.”

They are the ones making mealy-mouthed proposals for compromise being rejected by the Democrats.

Meanwhile, I get this feeling that people are forgetting that these 800,000 civil servants being deprived of a livelihood are actual people with actual families and actual bills, many of whom actually love their jobs and love serving their country.

I see “shutdown parties” on Facebook.

I see the gleeful, snide remarks about how “non-essential” we are, and how they don’t need us.

I see snarky advice telling me to go find a “real job.”

You know what, assholes? Fuck you. When you’re unemployed or underemployed, because you voted for free shit, and your vote comes back to bite you in the ass, because your employer has decided it is too expensive to keep you on more than 20 hours per week, I’ll tell you to go get a real job too. And maybe I’ll hold a party in honor of your inability to pay the rent.

Or maybe, I’ll be a human being and remember that real people are suffering, and work silently to change what you have wreaked.

Up to the last shutdown, the propaganda mill alphabet networks manipulated it the way they wanted it to be manipulated. This time is different. With the social network savvy of all involved, the big question is who comes out the hero and who the villain.

From the fiasco yesterday, the sudden realization by many they’ve received the shaft by those they voted for and how the ObamaCare vote was completely decided by liberals, there is a strong possibility the Democrats will find they’ve been exposed.

I can only hope there will be a bounty placed on the politicians involved with turning our government into a political slush fund. They’re entrenched in both parties and the best thing that can happen is they all are removed from their power.

I believe the absolute bottom line is a poser and opportunist, not qualified to hold its office, is being the total tool for influences outside the USA “leading” the county into chaos (from which comes “order”, according to some bearded commie bastard).

The US Constitution has been perverted beyond belief by those sworn to uphold it and its intent. One could recite our Declaration of Independence and be just as accurate today, regarding the wrongs inflicted, as the Founders were at its writing. This is what “men” do to each other given the opportunity, as they have done to each other since history has been recorded – this is not a new way of thinking but the very reason for law. It is up to the citizen to fix the problem and is exactly why politicians clamor for gun control – they know full well what would happen to them if the shit hit the fan.

Build a few hundred guillotines and strategically place them throughout Washington DC – and work up the ‘nads to use them. Sure – it’s rather messy, but it worked for the Frogs in 1793 – the last time I’m aware of (save for the WWII underground) the worthless SOBs showed they HAD ‘nads.

It’s unfortunate that many, like you Nicki, will feel the effects of this latest example of child play by the elected elite but that should further strengthen the citizens’ resolve to separate them from their finery/privilege and not allow any further abuse of the power entrusted to them.

Remember – at any given time, only three percent of the colonys’ citizens were under them command of General George and due to their efforts, our country was created. To allow any further degradation is nothing short of pissing on the Founders’ graves.

Rob

Hi, I'm Rob. I used to blog at Northern Virginia Conservative, but Nicki got way more hits anyhow, so I moved over here. My language is somewhat less colorful than hers, but I also get pretty passionate.

I'm a liberty Republican activist, and work in fundraising right now during the day.